(Trinidad Express) THE women’s crown in the RMSL (Reliability and Maintenance Services Limited) Super Singles Table Tennis Tournament has gone back to Guyana.
After Trenace Lowe had outclassed the field for the title a year ago, Chelsea Edghill turned in a similar type of display Sunday at the Central Regional Indoor Sports Arena, Chaguanas.
After beating over-50 player Verna Edwards 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 to sail into the final round-robin draw, the 15-year-old defeated her four opponents to claim the title.
Edghill was especially impressive in disposing of Edwards’ daughter Aleena, a nine-time national champ, 11-2, 11-6, 13-11, but faced some anxious moments before winning six of the last seven points to close out Trinidad and Tobago’s No. 1-ranked player Linda Partap-Boodhan 11-4, 10-12, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6.
The Caribbean under-21 silver medallist also halted Brittany Joseph 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7 in the battle of the teenagers and overwhelmed Natalie Montes 11-4, 11-8, 11-8.
Aleena got past Joseph 12-10, 16-14, 11-8 and notched five-game victories over Montes (11-8, 6-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-5) and Partap-Boodhan (7-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-5, 11-5) to secure the runner-up spot.
Joseph, who at age 14 became one of the youngest ever national champions a few months ago, was an 11-8, 13-11, 11-4 winner over Montes and denied Partap-Boodhan 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 8-11, 11-5 for third place.
And Partap-Boodhan avoided the cellar position by beating Montes 13-11, 11-5, 11-5, but suffered heart-breaking five-game defeats in her other three matches in the final stage of the competition.
Catherine Spicer is the last local player to win the title, but the 2010 champ failed to reach the “big five” when she went down 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 11-6 to Montes, the former national champ who finished runner-up in the recent Tobago Open when she returned after a very long break.
The men’s champ will be determined from 6.30 p.m. tomorrow.
